Gobekli? Civilization began at Karahan Tepe

What is older than Gobekli Tepe? Karahan Tepe

Did civilization begin at Karahan Tepe? Humanity before Göbekli Tepe | Prehistory doc

(History Time) Premiered April 19, 2024: — History Time is written, researched, and produced by Pete Kelly. Check out other channel for more history content: @petekellyhistory.

CHAPTERS

• 11:30 - I - In The Beginning
• 28:36 - II - Dancing at the Dawn
• 59:23 - III - The Older Brothers of Adam
• 1:28:15 - IV - Of Sorcerers & Stone Circles Research

BOOKS

• René Girard, Violence & The Sacred (1972)
• Klaus Schmidt, Gobekli Tepe (2012)
• Steven Mithen, After The Ice (2003)
• V. Gordon Childe - Man Makes Himself (1939)
• Robin Dunbar, Human Evolution (2014)
• Robin Dunbar, How Religion Evolved (2022)
• David Wengrow & David Graeber, The Dawn of Everything (2021)
• Mircea Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas (1988)
• Mircea Eliade, Shamanism (1951)
• Jaques Cauvin, The Birth Of The Gods & The Dawn of Agriculture (1994)
• Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973)
• Claude Levi Strauss, The Savage Mind (1966)
• Dancing at the Dawn, Yosef Garfinkel (2003)
• Brian Hayden, The Power of Feasts: From Prehistory To The Present (2014)
• Dacher Keltner, Awe - The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder (2023)

ACADEMIC JOURNALS

• The Archaeology of Ritual, Edward Swenson (2015)
• Becoming Farmers: The Inside Story, Anna Belfer-Cohen (2011)
• The Earliest Dancing Scenes In The Near East - Yosef Garfinkel (2003)
• On Scorpions, Birds & Snakes - Benz & Bauer (2015)
• Farewell to the ‘Childhood of Man’ - Wengrow & Graeber (2015)
• So Fair A House, Göbekli Tepe - E. B. Banning (2011)
• Göbekli Tepe Preliminary Report, Klaus Schmidt (2000)
• Gods & Monsters - David Wengrow (2011)
• Jaques Cauvin: The right man for the reason - Anna Belfer Cohen (2011)
• The Legacy of Jaques Cauvin, Melinda Zeder (2011)
• Klaus Schmidt, Hans Georg K Gebel (2014)
• The Natufians In The Levant, Anna Belfer-Cohen (1991)
• To be not to be, Olivier Aurenche (2013)
• The Neolithic Transformation, Willie Thompson The Origins of Agriculture, Price & Bar-Yousef (2011)
• Rational Choice In The Neolithic?, Kim Sterelny (2015)
• The Origins of Agriculture In The Near East, Melinda Zeder (2011)
• On The Nature of Transitions and Revolutions in Prehistory, Ofer Bar-Yosef (2005)
• The World’s First Temple, Sandra Scham (2008)

Thanks to ‪@dakotawint‬ for the drone footage — Follow on Instagram for travel stories: / petekellywriter — Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month and help keep this channel going: / historytimeuk — History Time is now a podcast. — Join the History Time community: Twitter:- / historytimeuk Facebook: / historytimeofficial Instagram: / historytime_ig — Music courtesy of: - Epidemic Sound - Joss Gallanagh-Edwards: / jgemusic http://jgemusic.com - Brodie Marshall:- https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Q7hB... / user-516251154 Instagram: / brodiemarshallmusic —

For audio needs Hamish Dickinson is good: www.phoenixsoundstudio.co.uk. Compiled reading list of favourite history books via the Amazon influencer program. Choose to purchase any of these incredible sources of information so Amazon will send a tiny fraction of the earnings (as long as they are done through the link). (This means more and better content in the future). It will keep griowing to and updating the list as time goes on:- https://www.amazon.com/shop/historytime I try to use copyright free images at all times. However if I have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and I’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.

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Cave 5K years older than Gobekli Tepe

• VIDEO: Homo sapiens may be older than we thought
• Homo erectus wasn't the first human species to leave Africa 1.8 million years ago, fossils suggest
• 15 historical figures who may not have existed

Civilization began in Anatolia, Turkey?

(Josh the Intern)

Major discoveries at Gobekli Tepe

(MegalithomaniaUK) Taş Tepeler ("Stone Mounds") sites

Jew was Adolf Hitler’s 'ideal' German?

Did an AshkeNAZI Jewish soldier become Hitler's "ideal" Nordic Aryan German?

How an empire created 'Jewish' identity

(Prof. Jiang Clips) How the Persian Empire constructed "Jewish" identity with Cyrus the Great

Exaggerating the numbers until everyone believes

DNA reveals REAL origin of Europeans

(First Humans) Ancient DNA reveals the real history of Europeans ("Anglo-Saxons" and others)

• Did Europe devolve from its original indigenous ways?

We didn't "evolve" light skin for reason we're taught

Who is England's dark-skinned "Cheddar Man"?

The Zoroastrian schism (the Secret War for Europe's Soul)

(The Ark) Premiered Oct. 14, 2025: What if the spiritual struggle that still rages in the West today began 3,000 years ago, after a schism in the original Indo-European religion?

• 0:00 A violent people of the Steppe
• 12:35 The glory of the Sky Father
• 20:10 Thus Spake Zarathustra (= Zoroaster = Zoroastrianism) 
• 32:08 Zarathustra's legacy
• 40:41 Heroic literature course
• 42:26 The sacred order
• 57:50 The heroic ideal

MUSIC: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio 80’s Synth Theme - Waves • 80’s Synth Theme - Waves // Royalty Free C... Scott Buckley - Echoes is under a Creative Commons BY 3.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... / musicbyscottb Music powered by BreakingCopyright: • 🌊 Atmospheric & Strings (Royalty Free Musi... Find more music here: breakingcopyright

HEROIC LITERATURE COURSE & COMUNITY: heroicideal.substack.com/s/he... Donate: ko-fi.com/heroicideal. Instagram: flesh.and.fire. Clothing: gloriousembrace.com/collectio...

Did Europe devolve from indigenous ways?

What happened to Indigenous Europeans?

Figurine of West's Mother Goddess

(Claudia Ayuso) Oct. 30, 2025: There’s an unknown chapter of European history that’s no longer told in our books. [The gatekeepers removed it so that no one would know.]

Research suggests that thousands of years ago [in prehistory] — long before recorded history — the Indigenous peoples of Europe built unique, rich cultures. But then something changed — dramatically. Out of that shift emerged the Europe we know today: patriarchy, biblical genocide, violence, sexism, empires, kings, and bloody conquest — a legacy of settler colonialism that shaped today's world.

So what happened? Have traces of that earlier world survived?

• 
  Matrilineal
• Neolithic (Stone Age)
• The Neolithic Revolution
• Neolithic in the Near East
• Sudden arrival of people from the Steppes
• Sacred Earth-based spirituality
• Veneration for Nature
• Sexual equality
• Settled agriculture
• Males married out.

God's wife, beloved Asherah

Does anyone remember the Western God's wife? And by "God" is meant the Judeo-Christian "God" of the Bible: Her name was the Western Goddess Asherah.

Marija Gimbutas or Marija Birutė Alseikaitė-Gimbutienė (1921–1994) was a Lithuanian archaeologist and anthropologist known for her research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of "Old Europe" and for her Kurgan hypothesis, which located the Proto-Indo-European homeland in the Pontic Steppe. More

Special thanks to: Sylvia Linsteadt, Kristian Kristiansen, Iosif Lazaridis.

ABOUT: Origin Story is an optimistic series about humans on Earth. Subscribe and catch all episodes: @claudia-ayuso. Stay in touch: claudiaayuso, originstory.earth, originstoryearth.substack.com

• Claudia Ayuso, Oct. 28, 2025; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Body found by Gobekli Tepe: Sayburc

(dakota of earth) Death Village found near Gobekli Tepe

DNA of Iceman Otzi shocks scientists

Ötzi's old clothes

(Stone & Bone) Ötzi, "the Iceman," was a stranger in a strange land, murdered by others and left to freeze in the snow and become a mummy, not a typical European of the time as previously assumed. The Iceman is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on September 19, 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi," German œtsi) at the Austria–Italy border (Tyrol state). He is Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, offering an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans -- or, at least, that's what scientists assumed until they tested his DNA and that of others from the area. [It seems "Europeans" are part space beings, hybrids, but Otzi seems to have preceded that infusion of alien DNA.] More

• VIDEO: Inside 10,800 BCE Folsom site discovery in NM
• The Clovis (Paleo Indians, Beringians) disappearance - What happened to America’s first known culture? | Watch

Cro-Magnon is still a term used in science?

• Stone & Bone; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The BLACK Kings Russia Forgot

• The Abkhazians of Abkhazia (Blacks near the Black Sea)
• Dark Ages? That is when dark Black rulers successfully ruled Europe for centuries: When the Moors Ruled in Europe by Bettany Hughes and Timothy Copestake

USA was more racist than Nazi Germany to Owens

DVD DESCRIPTION: This critically acclaimed documentary explores the 700-year history of [Black] Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula [Spain and Portugal]. Although generations of Spanish historians have portrayed the Moors as brutish occupiers, recent research paints a much different picture. The Islamic invaders actually brought stunning advances in science and art to their territories. Oxford-educated historian Bettany Hughes gives modern viewers a rich, nuanced understanding of Islamic history and culture while visiting such sites as the Alhambra Palace and the Great Mosque at Cordoba.

REVIEW: "The drama seems infused, suddenly, with important complexity, with great questions of war, peace, civilian casualties" -- The Wall Street Journal

"highly informative and entertaining" -- Memorable TV

Is there a connection between India and Volga?

Europeans, Cro Mags, Neanderthals, Asians

Before Göbekli Tepe: Boncuklu Tarla (visit)

Before Göbekli Tepe | Boncuklu Tarla | exclusive site exploration and museum visit | Megalithomania

(MegalithomaniaUK) Imagine exploring ancient Turkey (Turkiye) in May 2025, including Göbekli Tepe, Derinkuyu [the underground city], Karahan Tepe, Çatalhöyük, and more. For limited time discount, see: megalithomania.co.uk.

On the upper reaches of the Tigris River in Turkey are several archeological sites that predate Göbekli Tepe, including one that could be up to 13,000 years old.

This is Boncuklu Tarla ("Beaded Field"), where excavations have revealed 30 residential houses, six public structures, and the skeletons of 130 individuals. More than 100,000 beads and shaped raw copper have been unearthed (also found at nearby Gre Filla Höyük).

Much of this material is on display at Mardin Museum, which is investigated in this video. The square enclosures at the site are up to 30 feet wide and contain standing stones about five feet tall, some of the earliest megaliths on the planet.

Notably, one enclosure has a holed stone in its wall, just as is found at Karahan Tepe and Göbekli Tepe. Could this be evidence of very early astronomical observations?

Boncuklu Tarla, like many of the earliest sites in Turkey, was buried beneath a mound with finds that date from nearly 13,000 to 9,000 years old (Epipaleolithic period through to the Late pre-pottery Neolithic B).

• Read more in Hugh Newman's new book: amzn.to/3Mr6hmp
• Megalithomania May 4-5, 2024, Town Hall of Glastonbury, featuring a stunning lineup of speakers at the cutting edge of ancient mysteries and archeology. Christine Rhone introduces the ‘John Michell Memorial Lecture.’ Speakers' forum hosted by John Martineau. There are four days of tours. Details: megalithomania.co.uk.
• Megalithomania's Hugh Newman and many other great speakers were at The Cosmic Summit 2024 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, on June 15-17. Speakers included Randall Carlson, Scott Wolter, Ben Van Kerkwyk, Martin Sweatman, Praveen Mohan (India expert), and more. Tickets: cosmicsummit.com.
• Join on Patreon: megalithomania
• Megalithomania t-shirts and merch: teespring.com/stores/megalithomania
• Explore the world with Megalithomania Tours: megalithomania.co.uk
• Subscribe: megalithomaniauk
• Website: megalithomania.co.uk
• Copyright Megalithomania MMXXIV. All rights reserved.
• Megalithomania UK, March 10, 2024; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Ugly History: The Armenian Genocide - Ümit Kurt

(TED-Ed) Dig into the history of the Armenian Genocide, during which the Ottoman Empire killed over 1 million Armenians during WWI.

When an Armenian resistance movement began to form in the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II took decisive action. He led the Hamidian Massacres — a relentless campaign of violence that killed over 150,000 Armenians. These massacres were the culmination of centuries of oppression, yet they were only the beginning of an even greater tragedy.

Ümit Kurt uncovers the history of the Armenian Genocide. Lesson by Ümit Kurt, directed by Héloïse Dorsan-Rachet. Support non-profit mission. Support on Patreon: bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon. Check out merch: bit.ly/TEDEDShop

• Ümit Kurt, TED-Ed, Nov. 12, 2024; Seth Auberon, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Our shocking visit to Gobekli Tepe 2025

Gobekli Tepe: Olive trees removed, shocking! (2025 update) with @BrightInsight & @NikkianaJones

DNA: origin of Indo-Euro languages

Tumulus (barrow, kurgan, stupa, burial mound) Indo-European culture (pinterest.jp)

6,500-year-old DNA reveals origin of Indo-European languages spoken by half the world

Thousands of years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers roamed the steppes of southern Russia, hunting in its rivers and across its vast grasslands. They lived in a world without settlements, without writing, and without essential technology like the wheel. Yet, their language would one day become the foundation for nearly half the world’s spoken tongues, from English (British) and Spanish (Latin) to Hindi (Sanskrit) and Persian (Aryan and Indo-Iranian languages).

• Indo-Iranians

Who were these people? And how did their language spread so far and wide? A landmark pair of studies may finally have uncovered answers hidden in ancient DNA. By analyzing genetic material from over 400 individuals across Eurasia, researchers have traced the origins of Indo-European languages to a group known as the Caucasus-Lower Volga (CLV) people, who lived around 6,500 years ago.

This discovery not only solves a centuries-old linguistic puzzle but also reveals how the CLV people’s descendants — the nomadic Yamnaya culture — carried their language across continents, shaping the course of human history.

The hunt for the first Indo-European speakers

For decades, linguists and archeologists have debated the origins of Indo-European languages. Some argued that early farmers in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) spread the language as they expanded their agricultural practices.

Others pointed to the Yamnaya, a nomadic herding culture that roamed the steppes of Russia and Ukraine around 5,000 years ago, as the likely pioneers of the root language.

Research led by geneticist David Reich of Harvard University bridges these theories. By analyzing DNA from ancient skeletons, the researchers found that the CLV people, who lived between the Caucasus Mountains and the lower Volga River, were the ancestors of both the Yamnaya and the early Anatolian farmers. Around 6,000 years ago, some CLV groups migrated west, mixing with local hunter-gatherers to form the Yamnaya culture.

Others moved south into Anatolia, where they interbred with early farmers and gave rise to languages like Hittite, the oldest known Indo-European language that we have written records of.

“We’ve been on the hunt for this for many years,” Reich told the New York Times. “This is the first time we have a genetic picture unifying all Indo-European languages.”

Genetic reconstruction of the ancestry of Pontic-Caspian steppe and West Asian populations points to four key locations. Credit: Nature. (© ZME Science).

The Yamnaya, researchers believe, thanks to their high mobility and herding practices, became the primary vector for spreading Indo-European languages across Europe and Asia.

“They spread from the steppes north of the Black and Caspian seas all the way to Mongolia on one side and as far as Ireland on the other — 6,000 kilometers!” David Anthony, an anthropologist and co-author of the study, told Harvard Gazette.

The discovery of the CLV people as the missing link in the Indo-European story marks a turning point in a 200-year-old quest. Earlier genetic studies had shown that the Yamnaya carried steppe ancestry into Europe and Asia, but the origins of their language remained unclear.

The new research reveals that the CLV people not only contributed to the Yamnaya genome but also to the ancestry of Bronze Age Anatolians. Previously, the absence of steppe ancestry among the Hittites had puzzled researchers. The new study shows that the Hittites likely inherited their language from the CLV people who migrated to Anatolia, rather than from the Yamnaya.

“The Caucasus-Lower Volga group therefore can be connected to all Indo-European-speaking populations,” said Dr. Ron Pinhasi, a researcher at the University of Vienna and co-author of the study. “They are the best candidate for the population that spoke Proto-Indo-European.”

 

Yamnaya culture at its largest expansion (© ZME Science)

Not everyone is convinced though. Some linguists, like Paul Heggarty of Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, argue that the first Indo-European speakers were early farmers in the Fertile Crescent, not hunter-gatherers in southern Russia.

“Genes don’t tell us anything about language, period,” said Mait Metspalu, a population geneticist at the University of Tartu in Estonia. Still, origin or not, the significance of the Yamnaya culture cannot be denied.

A remarkable people

Yamnaya People: Characteristics, Culture, Migrations | Early European history and religion

.

The Yamnaya, descendants of the CLV people, revolutionized life on the steppes with their herding practices and use of wheeled wagons. Their superior technology most likely supercharged the spread of their language across vast regions through trade and conquest.

“I don’t think we can even imagine what it was like for other people to see a wagon coming,” said Anthony. “It was moving across the landscape, creaking and groaning, pulling a ton of equipment. People had never seen anything like it before.”

The Yamnaya also left behind a lasting legacy in their burial practices. Both the CLV and Yamnaya cultures buried their dead in large earthen mounds called kurgans, which have provided a wealth of archaeological and genetic data. “Suppose the Yamnaya had cremated their dead,” said Nick Patterson, a co-author of the study. “Chances are, we wouldn’t even know about this crucial culture in human history.”

As the debate over the origins of Indo-European languages continues, one thing is clear: The story is far more complex — and far more fascinating — than anyone imagined.

“There’s all sorts of mixtures and movements from places that these myths never imagined,” said Reich. “And it really teaches us that there’s really no such thing as purity.”

The findings appeared in the journal Nature. This story originally appeared on ZME Science. More

Protests: Turkey rises up against Erdogan

Sixth night of protests in Turkey as Erdogan lashes out at unrest | BBC News

(BBC News) March 25, 2025: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed opposition parties for provoking a "movement of violence" as protests [against him] in the country continued for a sixth night. Unrest began in Istanbul last Wednesday when the city's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu -- Erdogan's main political rival -- was detained on [phony] corruption charges. Mayor Imamoglu said the allegations against him were politically motivated, a claim Pres. Erdogan has denied. Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party's (CHP), which announced Imamoglu as its presidential candidate on Sunday, said the demonstrations will end on Tuesday, without saying what the next steps would be. In figures released before Monday evening's gatherings, the Turkish government said 1,133 people had been arrested since the protests began. #Turkey

Biggest protests in Turkey since 2013 Gezi uprising | DW News

Inside Gen Z-led anti-government protests in Turkey (Fayn)

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis, and features visit: bbc.com/news

• Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

New pyramid discovered in Peru: Caral

The Sacred City of Caral, Peru, archeological site in South America

New pyramid discovered in Peru!

The Sacred City of Caral, Peru, South America
travel information: Ancient City Guide

(History with Kayleigh) Feb. 16, 2025: CARAL, Peru - Archeologists have just discovered a pyramid structure at the Chupacigarro ["Suck-cigarette"] archeological site, which is part of the Sacred City of Caral-Supe in Peru. The pyramid may date back to 3,800 years ago.

• Turkey Tour: thecommunitygarden.org
• Where is Peru? Where is Caral?
• The Sacred City of Caral in Peru is almost 5,000 years old, making it the oldest city in the Americas. It predates the great pyramids of Egypt in Giza and includes six pyramids, the largest of which measures 150x160 meters, two sunken ceremonial plazas, residential districts, and an irrigation system (r/ArtefactPorn)

Where and what is "Central" America? Not South - Trying to understand South America below US

Sources

• gob.pe/institucion/cultur...
• jpost.com/archaeology/arc...
• arkeonews.net/archaeologists-....
• archaeologymag.com/2025/01/py...
• greekreporter.com/2025/02/01/...
• miamiherald.com/news/nati...
• colombiaone.com/2025/01/31/py...

More videos

• Sechin culture: Chankillo, Oldest Astronomical Observatory
• Human evolution: Hominids
• Ancient structures: Ancient Structures
• Ancient queens: The REAL truth about Hatshepsut
• New discoveries: New Discoveries
• Fact or fiction: Fact or Fiction?

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• Music: Adrian von Ziegler
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For the book The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization, use promo code KAYLEIGHBOOK10 for 10% off (valid until March 16th). Get a copy: tinyurl.com/5bwxxbtj #thebook #hungrymindsbooks #giftTheBook #theultimategift

• Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Human origins in Turkey, Europe?

8.7-million-year-old skull just discovered in Turkey rewrites history!

These are my ancestors, the hominines

(Discovery Future) A groundbreaking discovery in Turkey (Türkiye) is challenging the long-held belief that humans and great apes evolved exclusively in Africa.

Meet Anadoluvius turkae, an 8.7-million-year-old fossil that has sparked a bold hypothesis: The evolutionary lineage leading to humans — known as hominines — may have originated in Europe before migrating to Africa.

• Out of Africa? Everyone descended from Eve of Africa? Hello, Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe, cradles of civilization, 2023 in paleomammalogy
• Skull of 8.7-million-year-old ape found in Turkey suggests our ancestors evolved in Europe and NOT Africa, study claims | Daily Mail Online

Cuvier at Paleontology Museum

Unearthed from the Çorakyerler fossil site in northern Turkey (central Anatolia), this remarkably well-preserved partial cranium sheds new light on our evolutionary past.

Scientists believe that Anadoluvius turkae lived in dry forest environments alongside animals like giraffes, zebras, and lion-like predators, many of which later migrated to Africa.

The implications are profound. If true, this discovery suggests that hominines evolved and diversified in Europe for over 5,000,000 (five million) years before spreading to the eastern Mediterranean and eventually moving into Africa.

This challenges the traditional "Out of Africa" narrative and rekindles debates about where our earliest ancestors first emerged.

Join us as we explore the fascinating story of Anadoluvius turkae, delve into the broader context of primate evolution, and examine the shifting environments that may have driven these migrations.

What does this mean for our understanding of human origins? And what mysteries still await beneath the earth?

🔍 Stay tuned for more insights into humanity’s ancient history, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for updates on the latest discoveries in science and archaeology! #HumanOrigins #Evolution #FossilDiscovery #Paleoanthropology #Anadoluvius #GreatApes #ScienceExplained #TurkeyFossils #MioceneEpoch #PrimateEvolution

How this content was made: Auto-dubbed Audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated. Learn more

• Discovery Future, Jan. 12, 2025; Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

First modern Brits were 'dark to black'

Still, we wasn't as dark as the swarthy Irish, Mate. Thems is black. We be the fair ones.

.

DNA analysis of Britain's 10,000-year-old complete skeleton reveals first modern Britons dad 'dark to black' skin

ETs must hybridized us something wicked.

In findings that knocked the wind out of long-held assumptions about early British inhabitants, DNA analysis of Britain's oldest complete skeleton proved the first modern Britons who lived about 10,000 years ago had "dark to black" skin, according to the BBC.

The ancient skeleton, known as Cheddar Man, was discovered in 1903 in Somerset's Gough's Cave and gave scientists a glimpse into Britain's prehistoric past.

Were Neanderthals pale white or very dark?

Researchers from the Natural History Museum and University College London extracted DNA by drilling a tiny 2 mm hole in the ancient skull.

"It really shows up that these imaginary racial categories that we have are really very modern constructions, or very recent constructions, that really are not applicable to the past at all," said Tom Booth, an archaeologist at the Natural History Museum, who worked on the project, according to The Guardian.

We Brits were right savages then, unlike now.

The analysis painted this ancient Briton in vivid detail: a hunter-gatherer with blue eyes, dark curly hair [just like the historical Buddha, who was Central Asian and had curly black hair, Eurasian blue eyes, and golden skin], and a complexion that was "dark to black" [though the Buddha had a fair complexion, records show].

This combination of features — though startling to the modern observer — was common in Western Europe during this period.

Cheddar Man's ancestors had migrated out of Africa via the Middle East, eventually crossing Doggerland, the ancient land bridge connecting Britain to continental Europe, stated the BBC. Open the YouTube video

Prof. Chris Stringer, who studied the Cheddar Man skeleton for four decades, was astonished with the reconstruction:

"To come face-to-face with what this guy could have looked like -- and that striking combination of the hair, the face, the eye color, and that dark skin: something a few years ago we couldn't have imagined and yet that's what the scientific data show," he said, according to the BBC.

These findings represent a surprise to many because genes that confer light skin only began to spread through European populations much later than scientists assumed.

Pale skin, scientists now propose, evolved in farming populations of Europe about 6,000 years ago, possibly as an adaptation to help the skin synthesize Vitamin D from the sun more efficiently. More

• IBT Times UK (video); BBC; Shraddha, MSN.com, 1/16/25; Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly